Evaluation of a gel‐coupled quantitative ultrasound device for bone status assessment.

Abstract

Objective. To evaluate a new gel-coupled calcaneal quantitative ultrasound system, Osteospace (Medilink, Montpellier, France), which was designed to assess the status of bone in the calcaneus. Methods. The study group consisted of 215 healthy white women aged 20 to 85 years and 51 white women aged 60 to 86 years with osteoporotic fractures. Fifty-two healthy women aged 50 to 85 years were randomly selected from the healthy cohort as the control group. All the women had calcaneal quantitative ultrasonic measurements. The women with osteoporotic fractures and the control group also had proximal femur and lumbar anteroposterior spine bone mineral density measurements using dual X-ray absorptiometry. Bone mineral density was also measured in a subgroup of 54 women at the calcaneus. Results. There was a significant inverse correlation of broadband ultrasound attenuation and speed of sound with age (P < .001). Short-term measurement precision values expressed as coefficients of variation were 1.72% for broadband ultrasound attenuation and 0.64% for speed of sound, and standardized shortterm precision values were 6.09% for broadband ultrasound attenuation and 3.87% for speed of sound. The correlations between the quantitative ultrasonic parameters and calcaneal bone mineral density were 0.69 (P = .0001) for broadband ultrasound attenuation and 0.45 (P = .0008) for speed of sound. Both quantitative ultrasonic parameters and all bone mineral density measurements of the hip and spine differed significantly between the control and osteoporotic fracture groups (P < .01). Age-, weight-, and height-adjusted odds ratios per SD decrease were as follows: broadband ultrasound attenuation, 1.79; speed of sound, 1.83; spine bone mineral density, 2.34; femoral neck bone mineral density, 1.69; and total hip bone mineral density, 1.85. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve for quantitative ultrasound parameters and bone mineral density measurements were close, ranging from 0.75 to 0.80. Conclusions. This new quantitative ultrasound system can detect age-and menopause-related influences on skeletal status and can discriminate healthy women from those with osteoporotic fractures in a manner comparable with that of bone mineral density measurement by dual X-ray absorptiometry. Key words: fracture; osteoporosis; precision; quantitative ultrasound; speed of sound; broadband ultrasound attenuation. Bone and Mineral Research, September 30-October 4, 1999, St Louis, Missouri, and September 22-26, 2000, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Christopher F. Njeh, PhD, Osteoporosis and Arthritis Research Group, Department of Radiology, University of California San Francisco, 350 Parnassus Ave, Suite 607, San Francisco, CA 94143-1349. Abbreviations BMD, bone mineral density; BUA, broadband ultrasound attenuation; CV, coefficient of variation; DXA, dual X-ray absorptiometry; OR, odds ratio; QUS, quantitative ultrasound; ROI, region of interest; SOS, speed of sound

Measurement of the Human Calcaneus In Vivo Using Ultrasonic Backscatter Spectral Centroid Shift

“…Barkmann et al 9 found that the in vivo broadband US attenuation in the human proximal femur was moderately correlated with trochanteric BMD (R = 0.51; P < .01). Njeh et al 10 found a moderate correlation (R = 0.69; P = .0001) between the broadband US attenuation and BMD in the human calcaneus, which was similar to the correlations (R = -0.68 to -0.64; P < .0001) between the spectral centroid shift and spine and hip BMD in this study. The through-transmission measurement is restricted to limited skeletal sites (mainly the calcaneus) that are accessible by 2 transducers.…”

“…However, quantitative ultrasound (US) is now considered an alternative approach for bone status evaluation, with the advantages of portability, safety, and nonionizing radiation 3–8. The broadband US attenuation and the speed of sound in US through‐transmission measurements are the most widely used clinical quantitative US parameters 9,10. Unlike the through‐transmission technique, which is restricted to limited skeletal sites accessible by 2 transducers, the backscatter technique uses a single transducer to both transmit and receive US signals and can provide easier access to the bones, such as the hip and spine, which are more sensitive to osteoporosis 1.…”

“…attenuation and the speed of sound in US through-transmission measurements are the most widely used clinical quantitative US parameters. 9,10 Unlike the through-transmission technique, which is restricted to limited skeletal sites accessible by 2 transducers, the backscatter technique uses a single transducer to both transmit and receive US signals and can provide easier access to the bones, such as the hip and spine, which are more sensitive to osteoporosis. 1 Backscatter measurements have shown diagnostic promise in their own right in studies in vitro and in vivo.…”

Salivary adiponectin levels are associated with training intensity but not with bone mass or reproductive function in elite Rhythmic Gymnasts

“…The dominant heel was measured in all subjects. The precision (reproducibility) error for BUA is 1.72% [19].…”